3D printed gun has and likely always will raise eyebrows and get a little bit more attention than your typical 3D printing related news story because of the nature of what a gun represents to different people.

This surrounding facination started when Cody Wilson made international news back in 2013 after distributing the 3D model files for his Liberator 3D printed gun. Along with this (the first functional 3D printed gun) came his crypto-anarchy philosophies and eventually an incredible media driven backlash. Cody couldn't have been happier with the world's response.

Fastforward to today and a new 3D printed gun called Songbird that has just been released that incorporates a metallic barrel liner to reinforce the otherwise fully 3D printed gun typical since the release of the Liberator (with the exception of course of Solid Concepts metal handgun).

For the Songbird pistol, it is the metal liner that sets it apart from the rest in that repeatability is supposedly achieved (disclaimer: who really knows). Tests firings using ABS plastic proved that it was indeed strong enough to fire .22 and .357 caliber bullets fairly reliably.

For any gun enthusiasts out there, it’s worth checking out the below example video and others uploaded by Youtube contibuter Guy in a Garage.

After watching some of the videos related to the construction of the gun I was somewhat relieved that it really did seem like a hobbyist contraption. There was no underlying political/philosophical ambition or 2nd Amendment message built in meant to inspire controversy. It’s just someone interested in using new ideas to manufacture a centuries old technology. So that was a relief.

And while I am generally against the ownership of guns, this project seems like a well-thought out approach to engineering a better and ultimately safer (for the user) 3D printed gun.

As has always been the case, 3D printed guns are not practical in any real sense. There are cheaper and more efficient ways of acquiring a gun if you really wanted one. In addition, the world is not in any major risk of being over run by 3D printed guns any time in the near future.

But, just like every story relating to 3D printed guns the context of what a gun is cannot be ignored and this is evidenced by the comments section on the Hackaday Songbird breakdown.

Beyond the discussion on how practical a barrel liner is, it quickly devolves (as do most internet based discussions on the topic) towards how guns are bad or subsequently how guns are good. Ultimately, the way I see it is that using Taulman Bridge Nylon to print the barrel was a good use of new materials.

"After watching some of the videos related to the construction of the gun I was somewhat relieved that it really did seem like a hobbyist contraption. There was no underlying political/philosophical ambition or 2nd Amendment message built in meant to inspire controversy. It’s just someone interested in using new ideas to manufacture a centuries old technology. So that was a relief."
Why is it a relief that somebody does not realize the social and political consequences of his/her inventions?
The social and political implication of 3D printing in general is the most important aspect of the technology and you are happy when inventors are ignorant about that???
A relevant technology ALWAYS has social and political implications. As you can see from the previous comments guns and gun ownership have been politized heavily and ignorance does not change that fact.

RobinLeech wrote at 10/2/2016 11:38:40 PM:

Are you really against the ownership of guns? Or just private ownership? It sounds like you've no problem with people being armed as long as they work for the state and have an unchecked monopoly of force. The JPFO (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership) would point out that tyrannical governments throughout history were also against private ownership of weapons. So, you basically admit that you'd rather see the people be disarmed and the gestapo have a monopoly of force as the nazis had, rather than checks and balances with private ownership of firearms.

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